Thirty-four members of Congress are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate reports of widespread overcharging by some of America’s most-recognized brand-name retailers.
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members → call → retailers
The 28 October letter to the FTC comes in direct response to Guardian investigations of four of the nation’s largest dollar-store and convenience-store chains.
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letter → come → chains
Both investigations revealed pervasive mismatches between shelf labels and register prices.
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investigations → reveal → labels
The first, published in December, found that Dollar General had failed more than 4,300 government price-accuracy inspections in 23 states over a three-year period on items such as peanut butter, spaghetti sauce and Flintstone vitamins.
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General → publish → butter
Its smaller rival, Family Dollar, failed 2,100 price inspections in 20 states over the same period.
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rival → fail → period
The second, published last month, found a similar pattern at convenience store chains 7-Eleven and Circle K.
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second → publish → chains
Consumer complaints, along with state and local inspections, revealed overcharges for snacks, beverages, toiletries, tobacco and medications.
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complaints → reveal → snacks
In addition, some stores charged more at the pump for gasoline than the prices displayed on their big road-facing signs.
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stores → charge → signs
“These reports show that these incidents are not isolated to a geographic area or to a handful of stores,” the Congress members’ letter said.
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letter → show → stores
“Instead, the scale of documented violations seems to be the result of systemic failure within corporate operations, leading to customers overpaying for their groceries, potentially without knowing.”
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customers → document → groceries
All four companies have told the Guardian in written statements that they try to keep register prices consistent with shelf prices.
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they → tell → prices
The letter, written by US House Democrats from 17 states and the District of Columbia, was addressed to FTC chair Andrew N Ferguson, a Trump appointee.
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letter → write → Ferguson
It was sent two days after the FTC, along with 20 states, filed a federal lawsuit accusing Dollar General of a “pattern of inaccurate pricing” that “affects millions of purchases”.
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that → send → purchases
The lawsuit claims the company knew about the problem for years without correcting it.
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company → claim → it
Dollar General, in a statement, vowed to “defend this litigation vigorously”, saying it aims for 100% price accuracy and that it cooperated with the FTC’s investigation.
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it → vow → investigation
“While this step is positive,” the lawmakers wrote of the FTC’s lawsuit, “the widespread nature of the issue revealed by public reports and state inquiries warrants a full-scope probe.”
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nature → write → probe
The congressional letter comes on the eve of a midterm election in which affordability has emerged as the major concern.
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affordability → come → concern
In a recent Harris Poll conducted for the Guardian, voters listed gas prices, grocery prices and living expenses as their top three election issues.
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voters → conduct → issues
In another poll, released by AP-Norc Center for Public Affairs Research, nearly 80% of voters disapproved of Donald Trump’s handling of the cost of living.
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% → release → living
“Gas prices are at $4.50 a gallon in my district,” US representative Nikki Budzinski of Illinois, the letter’s lead author, told the Guardian.
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Budzinski → tell → Guardian
“Any uptick in a gas price, or any uptick in the price of a banana or the price of ground beef, means families, in reality, making very difficult decisions as to whether they’re even able to afford that item any more …
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they → mean → item
They’re making decisions as to whether to fill their gas tank up completely or fill their grocery basket up.”
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They → make → basket
Back in December, Budzinski and 29 colleagues wrote to the CEOs of Dollar General and Family Dollar seeking internal documents about their pricing disparities.
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Budzinski → write → disparities
Neither company complied, she said, “so we’re taking the next step of going to the FTC and asking them to do enforcement.”
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we → comply → enforcement
The federal agency is charged with policing unfair, deceptive and anti-competitive business practices.
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agency → charge → practices
The Guardian has contacted the FTC and the four retail chains for comment.
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Guardian → contact → comment
Budzinski and her co-authors noted that many of their constituents live too far to walk or drive to independent grocery stores or chain supermarkets.
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many → note → stores
A Dollar General or 7-Eleven might be the closest place for them to buy food.
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them → buy → food
“Because these stores are often the sole option for essentials in underserved neighborhoods and rural communities, these companies occupy a unique position of trust and responsibility,” the letter said.
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letter → occupy → trust
“It is deeply troubling to see that these limited options have been exploited to the detriment of working families.
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options → see → families
For one of the lawmakers who signed the letter, the issue is personal.
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issue → sign → letter
US representative Shontel Brown lives near a Dollar General in Warrensville Heights, Ohio.
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Brown → live → Heights
She visited earlier this year to buy some soda pop.
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She → visit → pop
When she reached the register, she said, the total cost didn’t match the advertised price.
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cost → reach → price
“I asked the cashier, ‘Wait a minute, how am I paying X amount when these items are on sale and I’ve applied these coupons?’” Brown recalled.
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Brown → ask → coupons
“And she said, ‘Well, the system does that.
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system → say → that
It does it a lot with the pop.’”
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It → do → pop
The congresswoman left without making the purchase.
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congresswoman → leave → purchase
“I have the luxury of not counting every single dollar in my budget,” she said.
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she → have → budget
Many of her constituents don’t have that leeway.
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Many → have → leeway
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
